Twelve accused of illegally wiring money to Iraq

WASHINGTON -- A Seattle money-service business and 12 people have been indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of illegally wiring at least $12 million in money and goods to Iraq in violation of a decade-old U.S. embargo, the government said Thursday.

U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Robert Bonner announced the action as a federal indictment was unsealed Thursday in a federal court in Washington state. Bonner said the indictment was handed down Wednesday.

Bonner said six people were arrested in the United States on Thursday as a result of a yearlong investigation into the unlicensed money-transfer network. One was Hussain Alshafei, owner of the Seattle business Alshafei Family Connect Inc. The others were arrested in Nashville, Tenn.; St. Louis; Roanoke, Va.; Dallas and Phoenix.

The investigation revealed that Alshafei and his business moved roughly $28 million in funds out of the United States, of which $12 million worth of money and goods went to Iraq via third-party intermediaries during a span of 30 months, Customs said.

A 1990 executive order signed by former President Bush forbids Americans from transferring money or goods to the Iraqi government or its people, directly or indirectly.

"We will keep illegal funds out of their wallets and illegal commodities out of their hands," Bonner said.

Sent from U.S. cities

Investigators say money was sent from U.S. cities, including New York and Seattle, and then on to Britain, India, Canada, Brazil, Taiwan, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

The funds eventually were forwarded to a business in Iraq called Al-Nour Trading, run by an Iraqi man whose last name is Fakher and whose alias is Abu Haider, the indictment says.

Authorities were investigating whether any of the funneled money or the unidentified goods purchased with the money might have been used to bankroll terrorist activities or purchases of weapons of mass destruction, Bonner said.

"I can't say right now that we have any connection," he said, "but you can't rule it out."

Alshafei Family Connect is a money wiring business that Iraqi immigrants and others in the United States used to send money to family and friends in other countries, authorities said.

The indictment charges the six people arrested in the United States on Thursday, the business, Alshafei Family Connect, as well as six people in other countries, including Iraq, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Great Britain, with conspiracy to launder money in violation of the U.S. embargo.

'Masters of subterfuge'

"The defendants in this case are masters of subterfuge, sending funds to Iraq in violation of U.S. sanctions," said Jimmy Gurule, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for enforcement.

Besides Alshafei, the other five people arrested in the United States and named in the indictment are Malik Almaliki of Roanoke, Khalid Amen of St. Louis, Salam Said Alkhursan of Dallas, Ali Noor Alsultani of Nashville and Ali Almarhoun of Phoenix, Customs said.

The indictment also names: Ali Mohammud Ali Abbas of Jordan; Haider Amer Fakher of Iraq; Hashim Mohsin Almosawi of Everett, Wash.; Abdulilah Hamid Daoud of London; Ahmed Fayadh Kathe of Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and the man whose last name is Fakher and goes by Abu Haider, and resides in Iraq.

Attorney Gordon Freese said his client, Amen of St. Louis, has been providing money to his family in Iraq, who are "starving to death" under the embargo.

"He was trying to support his family like many immigrants," Freese said. "He has cooperated in the past with the government and has offered to cooperate in the future." He said "money laundering" is the government's choice of words.

Bonner said that assets in four U.S. bank accounts were frozen. Three accounts were in Washington state and one in Detroit. Details weren't provided.

The action was coordinated by Operation Green Quest, a multiagency financial crimes task force located at Customs' headquarters.

The investigation began in January when Customs agents in Seattle received information that Alshafei and his business were sending money to Iraq via other countries in violation of the U.S. embargo.

In late January, authorities raided Alshafei's home and business, and in February authorities raided 29 businesses and individuals in 14 states believed to be working with Alshafei Family Connect to illegally send money to Iraq.

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